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AnandTech review out for MBA

Galatian said:
Question should be: Are there user case scenarios where spending 200€ and reduced battery life really worth the little performance gain?

Quite frankly I can't see the MacBook Air being used as a powerhouse, at least not until Haswell and it's beefed up graphics. To me the MacBook Air is more off a take every Notebook to to office work and the i5 and 4GB RAM is more then enough for that task...but that's just me...
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200 euro is one hefty price tag. Does it really cost that much to upgrade from the i5 to the i7 in Germany?

You call the performance gain little, but what you gain in battery life by going with the i5 really isn't that significant. Under light load the difference is 17 minutes, under medium it's 35 minutes and under heavy load it's only 10 minutes.

I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to choose the i5 or the i7 but I'm really leaning towards the i7 at the moment.
 
Mikkel.kg said:
200 euro is one hefty price tag. Does it really cost that much to upgrade from the i5 to the i7 in Germany?

You call the performance gain little, but what you gain in battery life by going with the i5 really isn't that significant. Under light load the difference is 17 minutes, under medium it's 35 minutes and under heavy load it's only 10 minutes.

I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to choose the i5 or the i7 but I'm really leaning towards the i7 at the moment.
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It is 180€ on the 11" and 150€ on the 13".
The question for me is not about battery life more about why would one need the i7?
 
KPOM said:
Hopefully we'll see a quad-core Haswell next year, and an improved display. There will be an onslaught of ultrabooks with superior displays in the coming months (the ASUS is just the first), so even if we don't get a full Retina Display, an increase in resolution would be warranted.
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At least a higher quality IPS panel. It'd also be nice not to have such a disparity in quality/behavior among different suppliers of panels and/or SSDs. A little more standardization with the components would be nice.
 
AnandTech's profile is PERFECT!

My 11 inch 2012 with LG screen is looking even better than my wife's 2010 with Samsung!

Awesome!
 
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carlos00 said:
i7=faster processer means better productively for those that need it; saving one time/money that could be beter spent
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like 0.2 GHz and some extra rarely used instructions are going to make it THAT much faster :rolleyes:

RodPinto said:
AnandTech's profile is PERFECT!

My 11 inch 2012 with LG screen is looking even better than my wife's 2010 with Samsung!

Awesome!
Click to expand...

I checked and have the Samsung screen (but Toshiba SSD). I tried his profile for the Samsung screen but it seem extremely dull...wonder if there is something wrong with his measurements on the Samsung screen...

KPOM said:
Hopefully we'll see a quad-core Haswell next year, and an improved display. There will be an onslaught of ultrabooks with superior displays in the coming months (the ASUS is just the first), so even if we don't get a full Retina Display, an increase in resolution would be warranted.
Click to expand...

Haswell ULV will not be quad core!
 
RodPinto said:
Do you know any way to rename this profile name? I've tried through Apple Script but it's not working.
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The script worked for me.

I double clicked the script at /Library/Scripts/Colorsync/Rename and then elected the Anandtech ICC profile and picked "other" then entered my new profile name.

20120717-fycfx8kgwisjw6j3umkienydrd.jpg
 
Weaselboy said:
The script worked for me.

I double clicked the script at /Library/Scripts/Colorsync/Rename and then elected the Anandtech ICC profile and picked "other" then entered my new profile name.

Image
Click to expand...

I'm doing the exact same thing but it is not changing... Did you have to fix permissions or restart your computer?

I'm also unable to delete any of the profiles... Do you have a 13 or 11 Air?
 
RodPinto said:
I'm doing the exact same thing but it is not changing... Did you have to fix permissions or restart your computer?

I'm also unable to delete any of the profiles... Do you have a 13 or 11 Air?
Click to expand...

Nope... I just ran the script like I said and it worked. I have a 13" Air.

Did you put the profile in the ~/Libary color profile folder or the main /Library color profiles folder? Mine is in the ~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder. Maybe you have yours in the main /Library and that is the difference?
 
Galatian said:
like 0.2 GHz and some extra rarely used instructions are going to make it THAT much faster :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The maximum Turbo Boost is where it is seen. The 1.7GHz tops out at 2.6GHz, while the 2.0GHz can boost as fast as 3.2GHz. With both cores running, the i5 tops out at 2.4GHz to the i7's 3.0GHz.
 
KPOM said:
The maximum Turbo Boost is where it is seen. The 1.7GHz tops out at 2.6GHz, while the 2.0GHz can boost as fast as 3.2GHz. With both cores running, the i5 tops out at 2.4GHz to the i7's 3.0GHz.
Click to expand...

Agreed but it has to been seen if under real world workloads the thermal envelope actually allows for this Turbo Boost.
I remember my MacBook Pro never running on full speed when playing games, because it was running way too hot...
 
Galatian said:
Agreed but it has to been seen if under real world workloads the thermal envelope actually allows for this Turbo Boost.
I remember my MacBook Pro never running on full speed when playing games, because it was running way too hot...
Click to expand...

The "Core i7" bug in Boot Camp notwithstanding, it is possible to see this in Windows 7 using CPU-Z or Intel's Turbo Boost monitor. My Sandy Bridge would jump into the full Turbo Mode when I encoded something. With Throttlestop, so will the Ivy Bridge.

AnandTech's tests appear to indicate a sufficient difference between the i5 and i7 to suggest that both are going into Turbo. The whole point of Apple's pressure on Intel and their threat to "go ARM" was to force Intel to design processors that could throttle up within the constraints of Apple's design philosophy.
 
Wow, this was a nice and thorough review! It would have been nice to have before purchasing, but it honestly would have simply affirmed my decision to buy.
 
Just to confirm, the Anandtech color profile should also make the 2011 Air's LG display look better, right?
 
Mikkel.kg said:
200 euro is one hefty price tag. Does it really cost that much to upgrade from the i5 to the i7 in Germany?

You call the performance gain little, but what you gain in battery life by going with the i5 really isn't that significant. Under light load the difference is 17 minutes, under medium it's 35 minutes and under heavy load it's only 10 minutes.

I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to choose the i5 or the i7 but I'm really leaning towards the i7 at the moment.
Click to expand...

I'd have to pay ~30% more for an i7, as you cant pick the 128 ssd (13"). With my income, I'd seem a waste of money.
Would def have upgraded on the 11", as the 64 ssd is too small anyway.

Edit - btw, I noted the 11" seem to run less hot then the 13", what gives? Seems strange.
 
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Based on AnandTech's review and stats, I'm personally happy I went with the i7, as the modest, but still significant, performance gain for me is worth more than a few minutes of extra battery life, but then different people's needs may vary. I do wish Apple would issue a proper fix for the
turbo mode (or lack of it) bug
Click to expand...
currently present under Windows for the i7, though at least there is a temporary fix that works (i.e. Throttlestop)...
 
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